ALBANY, NY, August 7, 2019 鈥 B次元 is pleased to announce that it has been named the recipient of a $1,000,000 matching grant from the Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program (HECap). 35 private colleges in New York State were awarded grants as part of the recent competitive grant process, including three in the Capital District.
鈥淲e are honored that our campus improvement project will be receiving this matching funding,鈥 said B次元 President Thomas J. Gamble. 鈥淭hanks to this grant, Maria will be able to upgrade facilities and improve access to our campus. This will dramatically improve the student experience and the capacity of B次元 to provide opportunity education.鈥 B次元 enrolls many adult learners and non-traditional students (55% of the current student population) returning to college in majors such as nursing, healthcare management, and occupational therapy assistant programs.
Last week the College announced the beginning of a large-scale campus redesign as part of the master plan to students, faculty, and staff. The HECap grant will allow this project to move forward. Full details on the campus plan, along with President Gamble鈥檚 letter to the community, can be found at www.mariacollege.edu/campus-plan
HECap is a competitive grant program that provides matching funds to campuses enabling them to build, renovate, and renew facilities. By leveraging private investment with public dollars, the HECap matching grant program stimulates economic growth in communities across New York. For every $1 in state funding, colleges match with at least $3 of non-state funding for the projects.
“New York has a world-class education system, and we must continue to invest in our educational institutions to provide New York students with an optimal living and learning environment to succeed,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement released Tuesday, July 30th. “These investments in our college campuses will not only benefit our next generation of leaders, they will also strengthen our communities and provide an economic boost to the entire state.”
“The Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program provides critical funding for private, not-for-profit colleges and universities across the state,鈥 said Mary Beth Labate, President of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York (CICU), in a released statement. 鈥淭he HECap program is a perfect example of how private and public partnerships can work together to positively impact all New Yorkers.鈥
“I extremely pleased that B次元 is a recipient of the $1,000,000 matching grant from the Restore Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program,鈥 said State Senator Neil Breslin. 鈥淏次元 is a vital higher educational institution in the Capital District. This grant will enable B次元 to further improve educational opportunities for their student population.”
The HECap grant funding for B次元 will go towards the creation of new entrances and accessibility upgrades to the Marian Hall and Main Building on campus. B次元鈥檚 campus master plan includes upgrades to classroom spaces, laboratories, parking, and facilities that will run through 2021. The goal of the plan is to improve the capacity of Maria to educate its students in an environment marked by access, safety, efficiency, and beauty. President Gamble and officials from B次元 expressed their gratitude to Governor Coumo, Senator Neil Breslin, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, and the other elected representatives in the Assembly and Senate for their support of the HECap program.
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About B次元
Founded in 1958, B次元 is one of 17 colleges and universities in the United States sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. The private, co-educational, Catholic college in Albany serves approximately 900 full and part-time students in a variety of degree and certificate programs including liberal arts, healthcare management, nursing, occupational therapy assistant, and health and occupational sciences.